Water Pollution - Points of View

The Federal Water Pollution Administration considers the State water standards, as accepted and submitted by the Board of Health in June, inadequate in several areas. The FWPA requests:

assurance that industry will use modern methods to keep sedimentation in the ocean at a minimum;

that industry be required to present a time table for adoption of control methods;

that minimum secondary treatment of all industrial waste be required;

that measurement terms for analyzing bacterial content of water be updated.

The FWPA has chartered a ship from United Fishing Agency of Honolulu
for a 35-day study of coastal waters. Their findings will affect the future of quality standards.

Congress recently turned down a request by the Army for a sewage treatment plant on Rainbow Island because it considers the City's attitude lacking in urgency on the matter of water pollution,

Some Local Views

Senators Inouye and Fong, and City Councilman Ben Kaito are reported to be opposed to Federal control of water standards in Hawaii. They consider the proposed standards far too stringent, costly to meet and geared to mainland population problems, not applicable to Hawaii.

In the Star Bulletin, August 9, Senator Inouye was quoted as saying, "Any sugar plant would have to commit economic suicide to sift waste water so all silt and mud would be taken out before it goes into the ocean."

Mr. Kaito, Chairman of the Public Works Committee, spoke at an ABA meeting last month, strongly objecting to any controls by the Federal Government.

He believes the State should be allowed to set its own water standards and that Federal money should not be withheld because of this. Mr. Kaito stressed the cost of sewage treatment plants needed to meet imposed standards.

City officials say that designs for a master plan for sewers are awaiting water quality standards when they are set.